Why I probably won't write a report ever again
I’ve been writing Fishbowl reports by hand since 2009. With ILC MCP doing the data work today, and the reports themselves next, I probably won’t write another one from scratch.
When someone on your team asks for a new Fishbowl report, the first question is what kind. A list to look up, a page to print, a dashboard to keep open, or a tool they use all day are four different things in Fishbowl. They all start with the same step: getting the data right. With ILC MCP, that step happens in a chat with your real Fishbowl data, and we build the report your team ends up using.
The four kinds
| Kind | Where it runs | Good for | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Module query | Fishbowl’s Data module | A list to look up or export | Open purchase orders by vendor |
| Jasper report | Fishbowl’s Reports module | A document to print or email | A packing slip with lots and expiry |
| BI Script | Fishbowl’s BI module | A dashboard to keep open | Today’s shipments by carrier |
| CloudPage | Inside Fishbowl, as its own tool | A screen people work in | A packing list printer |
A request often points to the wrong kind at first. “I need a report of late orders” might be a query someone runs on Monday, or a dashboard the shipping lead watches all day. Asking how the report will be used settles it.
What the agent does today
Every report needs a query that returns the right rows, and that’s where most of the back-and-forth happens. ILC MCP handles that part with your team.
- It explores your data. An admin asks in Claude or ChatGPT, and the agent looks at your Fishbowl tables, reading only.
- It writes and tests the query against your real data, so you see the actual rows it returns.
- It saves the query. The query becomes a saved query with a description, typed inputs such as a date range or a vendor, and a usage note. Every change is a new version you can roll back to.
- It shares it with the right people. Your admin grants it to a Fishbowl group. A query can also show each salesperson only their own orders.
Your team can run that saved query from a chat right away. Data Module queries your team already uses can be run the same way once an admin turns them on.
Who builds the report
We do, today. ILC builds and updates all four kinds: Data Module queries, Jasper reports, BI Scripts, and CloudPages. A person on our team reviews every one before it goes into your Fishbowl. Because the query is already saved and tested, building the report starts from data your team has already checked, and a later change such as adding a column starts with a new version of that query.
See Fishbowl custom reports for how we deliver each kind.
What we’re building next
The plan is for the agent to go past the query and create or update the report itself, in all four kinds, with a person approving each change before it reaches your Fishbowl.
| Kind | Planned |
|---|---|
| Data Module query | The agent writes and updates the query in Fishbowl’s Data module. |
| Jasper report | The agent drafts a new report or changes an existing one from a saved query. Planned, not started yet. |
| BI Script | The agent writes the dashboard into Fishbowl’s BI module. |
| CloudPage | We deliver it with a preview you can open before it goes live. BI Scripts can be delivered the same way. |
Changing a report would work the same way: ask for the change in the chat, see a preview, and approve it.
None of this is available yet, and we’d rather show it working than promise a date. If there’s a report your team has been waiting on, tell us what it should show.
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